'Avid readers with literary tastes'

"We're avid readers with literary tastes and a passion for self-improvement in this crazy 21st century world," Middleton said.

"I think we're trying to make sense of the here and now and we're broadening our horizons."

Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See won the Pullitzer Prize in 2015 and continues to be one of the most checked-out books at the Vancouver Public Library.

Middleton also noticed that some books on the list were the first in a pair or series, like Life After Life, which was followed by A God in Ruins this past year, and the classic To Kill a Mockingbird, which was followed by the much-anticipated Go Set a Watchman in 2015.

Others, she added, may just have a longer-spanning interest as people catch up to popular reads or as the books become more readily available through the library's online system.

Some books on the list are clearly the product of media attention and public discussion, as is the case with Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend, which currently has 118 people waiting to read it.